Thread: Opinions on Beacon lights...

I am on a large residential project right now that has very long stretches of natural areas, but they are not very wide (About 12 feet wide x 200 feet in distance). In some cases I have the luxury of a few larger trees to do some gentle downlighting with, but in other cases there are gaping lengths of darkness. Generally I would like the contrasts, but these areas surround a large pool and other variables. I hate the idea of path lights for simple spread coverage on the job, but I am curious about people's feelings on possibly using beacons for some subtle light coverage. I don't have much experience with them personally but would love some feedback...Thanks.

There is nothing really subtle about a beacon style fixture. They are glare bombs with direct line of sight to the lamp. Personally I hate them. I suppose if you were actually trying to recreate a landing strip look they might come in handy.

Thanks, that is what I was trying to get a grasp on. I like standard path lights for a nice subtle light, but in this case I just find myself feeling surrounded by them for this job if I can't find an alternative. I was wondering if the beacon might be a nice hidden change, but I rarely see them used and based on your response I guess that is why.

Without photos it is tough to help you with design alternatives. However there are a number of 'alternatives' to beacons that might work for you.

There are what are known as 'drive over' fixtures but be prepared for sticker shock
There are shielded ingrade well lights. I know that Copper Moon, Nightscaping, and others have them.
There are shielded fixtures like the NS INTEGRAliter which do work to delineate an area, path, edge etc and yet have no line of sight to the lamp. (Brass INTEGRA's are currently not in production and unavailable.)

I am working with a couple of other Manus now to develop a shielded fixture like the INTEGALiter which promise to be smaller, more rugged and more easily installed.